ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

RANGE: Warm springs and reaches of the headwaters of the Muddy River in Nevada

THREATS: Groundwater developments for urbanization and competition from nonnative fish species

POPULATION TREND: The Moapa dace was first discovered in 1938 and was considered common until the 1950s. The population in 1969 was estimated to be 500 to 1,000 individuals; by 1983, at the time the species' original recovery plan was published, fewer than 1,000 individuals were found. In 1994, 3,841 adults were found, but by 2007 that number dropped to only 1,172 individuals. By 2010, the population had dwindled much further to include about 697 individual dace. That year, a fire almost completely destroyed the Warm Springs Oasis on the Muddy River, delivering what many believed could be a mortal blow to the fish's last remaining population.